Cairo Police Arrest 100, Blocking Rally By Opposition

By MONA EL-NAGGAR

Published: March 28, 2005

Thousands of policemen lining the streets of central Cairo on Sunday prevented a protest rally by the banned Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group, in front of Parliament. But protesters regrouped at two other locations, and the police arrested 100 of them, organizers said.

The arrests came a day after the police arrested 84 Muslim Brotherhood members in a nationwide sweep, officials of the group said.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement quoted by Reuters that the police detained 50 people on Sunday for refusing to disperse. Unauthorized demonstrations have been banned in Egypt since emergency laws enacted after President Anwar el-Sadat was assassinated in 1981.

The number of demonstrators on Sunday was unclear, but organizers said they totaled at least 3,000. They reiterated demands made by the Muslim Brotherhood that President Hosni Mubarak abolish the emergency laws, which curtail freedoms and prevent free elections.

''We are now struggling for real reform in Egypt,'' Essam el-Eryan, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood said in a telephone interview. ''And real reform has an agenda that is entirely different from the formal constitutional change. What we want is to change the prevailing atmosphere.''

Founded in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood has grown into a vast movement with tens of thousands of supporters. While once known for violence, it now advocates the peaceful establishment of an Islamic state.

Other opposition politicians have also been skeptical of the Feb. 26 request by Mr. Mubarak for a constitutional amendment that would allow the country's first multicandidate presidential elections.

''If the intention is genuine in making real constitutional amendments, then it wouldn't be limited to this one article,'' said Dia'a Eddin Dawoud, leader of the Nasserist Party.

The Sunday demonstrations followed a few others organized by a small movement named Kifaya, or Enough, calling for an end to Mr. Mubarak's 24-year rule. Another Kifaya protest is planned for Wednesday.